Africa-Press – Kenya. Political tensions in Isiolo nearly boiled over during a Senate committee session after two county assembly speakers, both claiming legitimacy, appeared to respond to audit queries.
Abdullahi Banticha and Mohammed Roba appeared before the Senate County Public Accounts Committee. Banticha took over following the alleged removal of Roba by the MCAs. But Roba, who was initially elected speaker, rushed to court to challenge his removal.
Banticha, a former Finance CEC, was elected as a replacement by a faction of MCAs—reportedly 16 out of 18 present at the controversial sitting—and has since been gazetted.
The standoff started mid-2025, when deepening political infighting within the county government produced parallel power centres. The two rival factions insist they each have the lawful speaker.
Roba maintains that he remains the bona fide office holder and his faction continues to operate from the official assembly chambers. Conversely, Banticha’s supporters are closely aligned with Governor Abdi Guyo and at the height of the conflict, convened sittings in an alternative venue to pass the county budget.
The matter is before the High Court, where conflicting orders have deepened confusion, including accusations that both factions have violated court directives.
Under Kenyan law, only one county assembly and one speaker are recognised, but Isiolo’s crisis has created an unprecedented constitutional dilemma. The Senate County Public Accounts Committee, chaired by Moses Kajwang’ (Homa Bay), struggled to manage the warring groups when they appeared before the team.
During the session led by vice chair Johnes Mwaruma (Taita Taveta), county assembly clerk Guracha Salat had difficulty explaining why the assembly failed to respond to audit queries for the 2023–2024 financial year.
Lawmakers pressed the clerk on why the assembly ignored a September letter from the Auditor General requesting responses. “Did you get the letter from the OAG requesting you to send responses on the audit queries? Did you or did you not get the letter?” posed Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua.
Nyamira Senator Okong’o Omogeni added: “If you did not respond to the letter, what were the reasons? This is what we are asking.” Omogeni further demanded the Directorate of Criminal Investigations be summoned to clarify why inquiries into vandalism at the assembly—reported four months ago—remain incomplete.
In response, Salat said the assembly was unable to address audit questions because its premises had been vandalised. “We only wrote a letter to the Senate committee and copied the OAG. The county assembly was vandalised by goons, documents were stolen and some burnt. We had to relocate the assembly to Oldonyiro,” he said.
The chaos stemmed from an attempt to impeach the governor earlier in the year, which escalated into violence inside the assembly chambers. Although 16 MCAs initially voted to impeach him, the Senate acquitted the governor after determining the charges did not meet the constitutional threshold.
Soon after, suspected hired goons descended on the chambers, destroying property and making the facility unusable. In a dramatic twist, 12 of the MCAs who had supported the impeachment later shifted their allegiance to Guyo.
Despite the governor recently reconciling with his deputy and several MCAs—steps seen as attempts to stabilise the county—the leadership stalemate persists. Isiolo Senator Fatuma Dullo has also raised alarm over the removal of county staff from the payroll.
Committee documents show 485 staff hired under Guyo’s administration are on the payroll, while an additional 250 employees are not, raising concerns about irregular hiring, targeted purges, or political victimisation. Dullo demanded comprehensive human resource policies and payroll data from the county.
